Graham Chatterley on Building Positive Behaviour

Naylor's Natter Podcast 'Just talking to Teachers'

.In Building Positive Behaviour Graham Chatterley aims to get educators looking behind what is causing challenging behaviour by breaking down many of the potential causes. The book then offers a scaffold and sequence to build it all back up to meet the individual needs of all pupils. We should never be satisfied with some children falling through the cracks and with the right ethos and culture they won't. The change in this culture starts with staff. By increasing understanding of why challenging behaviour occurs it not only benefits the children but the staff also. Many staff take poor behaviour personally when in reality they had little to do with it. Children develop many survival strategies that often come in the form of a mask. This book will help staff to see behind that mask and hopefully reduce the need for it. With an empathetic approach based on validating children's feelings rather than fixing the behaviour the side effect is calmer classrooms and better learning for all.We have the blocks, let's build them! Instead of dealing with what's in front of us. with a rewards and sanctions based approach which will work for the majority. Let's use a sequential approach that works for all. The Strugglers, the Disruptors and the Disengaged alike. The 'Sequential Approach' offers another way that many educators have been looking for.In Building Positive Behaviour, Graham Chatterley challenges the reactive nature of those traditional systems in favour of a proactive response to behaviour, based on identifying and meeting the needs of the minority of pupils who find school sytems overwhelming. The book is overflowing with pupil examples of where the sequential approach has been used to positive effect , providing the reader with a scaffold, areas to prioritise, a sequence to follow and resources to help implement. This book is suitable for any educators who want a culture of prevention rather than cure.Graham is open and honest about his initial struggles trying to find his way in teaching and how that turned around, who were his inspirations and examples of people/schools who are doing it well right now.Anybody who wants to learn more about what is behind behaviour, looking for a blueprint of how to create a positive learning culture for all or anyone who is curious about their being another way, then this is the book for you.ReviewsThis is a brilliant, honest, brave, well-informed and eminently practical book. Graham has drawn from his wealth of experience in mainstream schools and alternative provision as well as his deep knowledge, to produce a really helpful guide to working with pupils who present what we sometimes call “challenging behaviour” (Graham prefers the term “dysregulated.”)Giving many examples from his own broad experience, Graham, who openly admits he didn’t always get it right himself, explains how and why a sequential approach can work to produce “calmer children, calmer classrooms, more learning.” Every now and then he interrupts himself with a “Pause for Thought” question, inviting us to reflect on our own practice.Particularly timely in 2020, as our children return from lockdown, this is a book for all seasons. I wish it had been around 30 years ago, because I too didn’t always get it right.JOHN COSGROVE, RETIRED HEADTEACHER, AUTHOR